HUNTINGTON BEACH The California Energy Commission wants more information to determine if the environmental and health impacts of the proposed AES energy project are significant enough to require a plan to ease any potential negative effects.

The Huntington Beach Energy Project will replace the Huntington Beach Generating Station, which has been running on Pacific Coast Highway and Newland Street since 1958. Changes will include using air to cool generators instead of sea water and using new technology that will allow the proposed plant to power up and be shut off quickly, according to AES officials.

Commission staff met with AES officials at a public workshop on Nov. 14 to review details and request more information on the project's impact before sending it to the commission for consideration.

The CEC is the agency responsible for regulating and permitting the state's power plants, and the commission will be responsible for licensing the revamp of the plant, which is expected to be greener and more energy-efficient.

CEC staff said some areas they want more study include noise impacts, biological impacts on wildlife, an assessment of the cancer risk from emissions at the facility and a better calculation of how many emissions would be flowing out of the facility at various phases of construction.

As proposed, the plant will have lower-profile buildings and give up the industrial look the facility has had for decades.

The stacks that emit steam vapor that some mistake for smoke and have become a unintentional icon in Surf City, will be pulled down as part of the project.

AES' new facility is expected to have fewer negative impacts on the ocean and beaches as well as surrounding neighborhoods, experts said.

If the licensing and permitting process goes as planned, construction could start in 2015 and the first generators will be online by late 2018, with full implementation by 2020, AES officials said.

The first two stacks are anticipated to come down sometime before 2020 and the other two are anticipated to be demolished in 2022.

This is one of several information workshops scheduled in the upcoming months. Another workshop to review data is scheduled for Jan. 14.

AES officials say they hope to take the project to the CEC commission in late 2013 or early 2014.

A rendering of what the proposed Huntington Beach Energy Project will look like. AES is propsing a greener natural gas energy plant at Pacific Coast Highway and Newland Street. PHOTO COURTESY AES
The AES power plant is scheduled for a revamp that will mean cleaner energy production for Huntington Beach. FILE PHOTO
The AES power plant is proposing a cleaner energy project for the power plant on Pacific Coast Highway at Newland Street. The California Energy Commission is holding several public meetings to inform residents of the changes and get their input. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Some surfers use the stacks as a marker for how far the current has pulled them from their starting point or to see which way the wind is blowing before heading out to the water. THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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